Snack-like food utensil - chooon

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises A food consumption utensil with an oblong, oval-shaped shallow bowl region having a flat bottom, a curved side, and ridges along the tip. The unique aspects of said utensil create an advent experience for the snack food consumer, obviating the need to touch said food directly with hands. The ridges on the tip of said utensil assist in guiding snack-like foods into the oblong, oval-shaped shallow bowl that allows for the holding of said food. The curve on the right side of the utensil encourages ease of deliverance of said snacks into the mouth of the consumer.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Applicants' prior provisionalapplication number [63/031,540] filed on [May 28, 2021].

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the general field of Household or TableEquipment and has certain specific applications to [spoons] [A47G21/04]. Said invention can also relate to the general field of KitchenEquipment with specific applications to [Other culinary hand implements,e.g., spatulas, pincers, forks or like food holders, ladles, skimmingladles, cooking spoons; Spoon-holders attached to cooking pots] [A47J43/28].

BACKGROUND

Cutleries are hand implements, primarily used in preparing, serving, andeating food, especially in Western culture. When used, one doesn’t haveto have direct hand contact with the items being consumed or theirmouths, creating a safer consumption experience.

In the case of snack-like foods, many of which are categorized as fingerfoods, there is a lack of inclusivity in the cutlery world. This leavesmany consumers left to choose between their snacks, and riskingsanitation issues.

According to the CDC, one of the three most important actions to takewhen reducing the spread of germs is to wash one’s hands. Many consumersopt to use hand sanitizer to consume food in public, but hand sanitizingis not as effective as handwashing, especially when not correctly done.Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of microbeson hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all typesof germs. The presence of water, food, fatty materials, feces, and bloodon hands can significantly reduce the effectiveness of an alcohol-basedhand sanitizer. Snack-like foods in particular, are notoriously knownfor leaving food residue on the hand. They can make cleaning handsbefore & after consumption challenging if there is no sink nearby.

Therefore, a need exists for a tool that eliminates the hand-to-mouthconsumption of snack-like foods. There is also a need for this tool tobe portable, easy to wash, and convenient to use. Finally, there is aneed for the advent of a utensil specifically designated for theconsumption of snack-like foods.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally consists of a food consumption utensilwith an oblong, oval-shaped shallow bowl region having a flat bottom, acurved side, and ridges along the tip. The unique aspects of saidutensil create an advent experience for the snack food consumer,obviating the need to touch said food directly with hands.

The ridges on the tip of said utensil assist in guiding snack foods intothe oblong, oval-shaped shallow bowl that allows for the holding of saidfood. The curve on the right side of the utensil encourages ease ofdeliverance of said snacks into the mouth of the consumer. The handle onthe utensil promotes ease of insertion and removal of the presentinvention from most snack-sized containers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an exampleand are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, inwhich like references may indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 - FIG. 1 depicts an example of a substantially side view of thepresent invention according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 - FIG. 2 illustrates a side perspective view of one example ofthe present invention according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 3 - FIG. 3 illustrates a side perspective view of one example ofthe present invention according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 -FIG. 4 illustrates an aerial view of one example of the presentinvention according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 5 - FIG. 5 illustrates an aerial view of one example of the presentinvention according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 6 - FIG. 6 illustrates a front view of one example of the presentinvention according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 7 - FIG. 7 illustrates a back view of one example of the presentinvention according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 8 - FIG. 8 illustrates a worm’s-eye view of one example of thepresent invention according to various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of oneor more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms aswell as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by onehaving ordinary knowledge in the field to which this invention belongs.It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined incommonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaningthat is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevantfield and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in anidealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In describing the invention, it will be understood that several views ofthe invention are disclosed. Each of these serves to display the aspectsof the present invention. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, thisdescription will refrain from repeating every possible aspect in anunnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims shouldbe read with the understanding that each view is entirely within thescope of the invention and the claims.

The advent of snack-like food utensils is discussed herein. In thefollowing description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe present invention. However, it will be evident to one knowledgeablein the field that the present invention may be used without thisspecific purpose.

The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of theinvention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specificembodiments illustrated by the figures or description below. The presentinvention will now be described by referencing the appended FIG. 1 .

FIG. 1 comprises a food consumption utensil with an oblong, oval-shapedshallow bowl region having a flat bottom, a long handle, a curved side,and ridges along the tip. The unique aspects of said utensil create anadvent experience for the snack food consumer, obviating the need totouch said food directly with hands.

The handle is slanted and 165.1 mm long, specifically calculated fordistancing in avoiding hand-to-mouth contact. The ridges on the tip ofsaid utensil assist in guiding snack-like foods into the oblong,oval-shaped shallow bowl of the utensil, despite the snack-like foodspossibly being broken into minuscule pieces.

The curve on the right side of the utensil measures at approximately 38mm, in between the average smile-span of an adult and a child,encouraging ease of deliverance of the snack-like foods into the mouthof the consumer.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described hereinwith reference to the preferred figure thereof, it will be readilyapparent to those of ordinary knowledge in the field that the otherfigures and views may show similar functions and/or achieve likeresults. All such equivalent figures and views are within the spirit andscope of the present invention, are contemplated thereby, and areintended to be covered by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A food consumption utensil comprising an oblong,oval-shaped shallow bowl region having a flat bottom, said flat bottombeing the lowest point of said utensil and said oval shape comprising acircumferential ellipse defining a sidewall around said entire oval,said sidewall rising upwards at an obtuse angle sufficient to encompassan optimal food portion without spillage.
 2. A food consumption utensilcomprising a bowl region comprising ridges along at least a portion ofthe top to facilitate optimal scooping and grabbing of food portion. 3.A food consumption utensil comprising a handle attached to said bowlregion at an angle, said angle optimized to enable consumption withminimal effort and having a length corresponding to conventional snackfood bag and/or container sizes, wherein usage of said utensil obviatesthe need to touch said food directly with hands.